roundtable: Letters from `Jlehm@aol.com'

roundtable: Letters from `Jlehm@aol.com'

Letters from `Jlehm@aol.com'

Fred G Athearn (fga@world.std.com)
Wed, 1 Mar 1995 07:58:44 -0500 

Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 07:58:44 -0500
From: fga@world.std.com (Fred G Athearn)
Message-Id: <199503011258.AA08669@world.std.com>
To: fga@world.std.com, roundtable@cni.org
Subject: Letters from `Jlehm@aol.com'


     On 2/25 I forwarded with a brief comment something from
FINS dealing with Star Schools in Iowa to a networking in
education list called "cosndisc@list.cren.net".  I got back an
individual unsigned flame that said it was from "Jlhem@aol.com".
 
     There was something fishy about it because, while it
rambled on like Rush Limbaugh overdosed on coffee, there were
none of the specifics you would expect if its writing had been
triggered by what it claimed to be responding to.
 
     Just to give you the flavor, it starts out: "How typical of
you liberal wacos who live and breath by the tax dollar." It
goes on to denounce me and all my "tax dollar-sucking
associates," and our "cancerous adgenda" which only has the
aim of ensuring the "survival of your wimp job, what ever that
may be."  As (Mr. ?) Jlehm sees it it is all just:
 
     "...more liberal political dirvel from you junior
      Slick WIllies and his venal and corrupt wife!"
 
     I posted the whole letter to cosndisc with the comment that
I felt like I thought I was tuned to NPR and had gotten Rush
Limbaugh instead.  I got a personal reply from Mr. Jlehm
telling me to "glue your radio to the Limbaugh station."
 
     Now I learn that on that same day Mr. Jlehm, seeming to
speak in a very different voice and from a very different
viewpoint sent Mr. Priest a warning about others on his
"network" who might denounce his good work to Congress or to
"Liddy and Limbaugh" and that this would add "fuel to your
already blazing fire".  The seemingly-friendly warning speaks of
the danger of "elimination of your funding".
 
     The only things that his letter to Priest has in common
with his ones to me is an uncontroled but educated type of
writing and a rather clever generic and non-specific quality
which could let them be used in many situations.
 
     I think that it is clear that Mr. Jlehm is sending
disingenuous individual provocations to posters to lists.
It may be that he intends to start to do this on a systematic
basis.
 
     It is very easy (too easy) get someone kicked off of aol
and that would not realy stop someone who was motivated. In fact
that might be the real goal of the provocation -- to have the
"liberals" kick a "conservative" off the internet. Rush would
realy pop his buttons over that and the general media is always
hungry for "internet" stories.
 
     I hope this is a one-shot operation, but I fear I have
seen signs of intentional and non-spontaneous provocation and
disruption on other lists.  Dealing with cyber-age psy-opps may
be a telecommunications policy issue whose time has come.
 
     What, if anything, beyond reposting with discussion, should
be the response to such problems?

Fred Athearn
Paradise Hill
Bellows Falls
VT  05101

(802) 869-2003 (voice) fga@world.std.com (E-mail)

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